Can You Use Food Stamps on Amazon?

You can now use food stamps on Amazon and that’s great news for all SNAP benefit holders who have been wanting to use their EBT Cards online to buy food at FreshDirect and other grocers that deliver food.

Starting in the summer of 2017, seven online food retailers, will start accepting food stamps and allow EBT Card holders to buy food online. Here is the list of the retailers approved for the program:

This is a two year pilot program that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the Food Stamps program is testing. NOTE that only seven states have been approved to run the program. The Seven states are:

Maryland
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Washington
Iowa
Oregon

If you are on food stamps but don’t live in the seven states mentioned above, you will not have to wait too long to be able to benefit from the program. The USDA says it hopes to expand the online program nationally and add more retailers.

The ability to use food stamps on amazon and fresh direct in itself is a major breakthrough for millions of people who are on food stamps but don’t have access to quality, nutritious and affordable food. The fact that major retailers like Amazon are participating in SNAP’s online ordering program is a big deal. The ability to buy food online using food stamps could especially help those who live in food deserts (i.e. neighborhoods without access to fresh produce), those with disabilities, and the elderly. It will also expand options for people to get access to a variety of food options that may not necessarily be available to them in their local area due to limitations that they may have – either due to employment or distance.